Spirited Away
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: Danny spent a better part of his young life isolated and shunned. Hunted and hated for his gifts. But he isn't the awkward and scared teen that he used to be. Ten years changed a lot of things. Including people. OC/Danny new chap 19!
1. Chapter 1

Spirited Away-

People were afraid of him. This was the sad fact of his existence.

Because he was half ghost. Because ghosts were associated with _death_ and _death_ _omens._

His existence was seen as _bad luck_. Something that should be erased. He'd spent a majority of his adolesent years being hunted by ghosts and humans alike. Hated by almost everyone he had tried to help.

His name was Danny Fenton. And he was an entirely different person today, from the kid he'd been ten years ago.

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He was on his way home from another long night of ghost hunting, his body traveling at speeds that humans couldn't travel at because it would shake their molecules apart and kill them.

It had been a long day for him between visiting with his parents, his sister Jazz and her two kids and then meeting up with Sam and Tucker at the Nasty Burger. And then his work hunting and catching ghosts and returning them to the ghost zone.

He flew over the various buildings and houses, taking note of the changes in neighborhoods and geography. One building was ripped down by time and neglect and another was built to take it's place across the street.

Amity Park had changed in the past ten years.

Many of the people that he'd known in Jr. High and High school had all either married and had kids or moved away. And the few that remained rarely spoke to him. But then they had never really been on the greatest of speaking terms to begin with.

Many of them had bullied him. Others had outright _despised_ him for no apparent reason.

Many of them still did today.

Not that it bothered him anymore. He was practically untouchable by them now. At twenty four Danny had mastered his ghost powers and become an agent for the government. He faced both human and ghostly threats every other day or so.

And he was well compensated for his work. Which was probably one of the few reasons why he did it. He no longer fought to save just the lives of the people of Amity Park, but the _whole_ world and everyone in it.

Which made him feel a little bit better about being a freak. But just a little. He sailed up over the roof tops and trees, weaving his way through an invisible course as he made his way towards his home. Slowing his pace just a bit in the ending stretch due to the fact that there was no reason for him to hurry.

He had no wife. No children. No cat or dog.

No one was eagerly awaiting his return home from work. He reached his home and was going to land on the side walk when he noticed a red truck sitting in front of his house and scowled a little bit. To his knowledge he didn't have company coming which could only mean that someone's vehicle had run out of gas or broken down.

_Well this is irritating._ Danny thought as he landed and walked around the truck, looking for any signs of the driver and paused briefly by the driver side door when he caught sight of a foggy figure inside of the truck.

Curious he changed back to his human form and reached out and placed his hand on the window, letting some of the icyness leak from his finger tips until he could see inside the truck. He blinked his neon blue eyes in surprise.

He could clearly see a young woman with dark curly hair, curled up in the front seat, wearing a pale pink cotton shirt and cut off shorts. He sighed and looked around the street for a second wondering what he should do.

On one hand he sort of wanted to go ghost and move her and her truck to another street where she could maybe _bother_ someone else for a phone.

But then it occured to him that the woman might have a medical condition of some kind and she might need help. For all he knew she might have had a mini stroke or something.

He doubted it since she looked fairly young, but one could never really be too careful. He tapped the glass to see if she would react and snorted when she seemed to jerk and lift her head to look at the window before moving.

She sat up and moved over to the door where he was standing and slowly, and cautiously rolled down her window just a little bit. "Yes?" She rasped in a sleep husky tone.

"Hi, sorry to bother you during your...nap...but uh, is everything okay? Did your truck run out of gas of something?"

She was quiet as she blinked her eyes. They were a vivid shade of turqouise, Danny noted with some interest as she answered. "Oh. Sorry. I have a medical condition and I was dangerously close to running off fo the road so I pulled over to rest-"

Danny nodded his head, understanding that sometimes if someone had bad health, it was neccesary for them to stop whatever they were doing to lay down or nap until they felt better.

It kept them from having accidents that could hurt or kill them. Not to mention that it helped cut down on innocent bystander casualties. "Are you feeling any better? Do you need anything? A phone? Someone to come pick you up and take you home?"

"Not really. No. No. And there isn't anyone that I can call. I just moved back to town after..." She stopped talking and seemed to consider something before asking him in a slightly wary tone. "Your not a predator of some kind are you?"

Danny didn't really react to her question despite the fact that it offended him a little bit. But he wouldn't hold it against her since she was a woman and he- Was probably a _very_ suspicous looking man to her. Standing on the side walk next to her truck, wearing a pair of dark sneakers, jeans and a bulky hoody with the hood pulled up over his dark hair, half hiding his face.

"Would you believe me if I said that I wasn't?" He asked her after a second or so, his head tilted to the side a little bit, his tone slightly curious. She'd be a fool to trust him when she didn't know him. And she didn't seem like a fool to him.

A little vulnerable and naive, sure. But not a fool.

She was quiet for a second or so, her turqouise eyes seeming to study him in the dim light. Finally after a second or so, he had his answer when she slowly opened the door to the truck forcing him to back up a little bit as the door swung open. "I'm Shara. Who're you?"

_A predator._ Danny thought before saying in amusement. "Danny."

She was a fool. And because she was more of less in his drive way, she was his responsiblity.

Oddly enough, he found this very interesting. Very intresting indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

Spirited Away-

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Danny usually didn't involve himself much with people anymore.

Aside from saving them from getting eaten, blown up, cast into vortexes of oblivion, put under spells and transformed into dragons, that is.

Yet when the chance arose for him to make a potential new friend, he normally stepped up. Which was why he'd invited Shara to stay at his place for the night.

He usually didn't invite people into his home at random, choosing to take a month or so to get to know them first, but Shara's circustances had been a little bit special. Besides, she was a girl and he would have felt badly if she had slept out in her truck all night.

He unlocked his front door and pushed the door open for her as she got an overnight bag out of the truck, and flicked on the lights as she walked up and warily stopped just on his door step and peeked into his house and then shifted a little bit from foot to foot anxiously while she chewed her bottom lip.

Danny dropped his house keys and wallet into a bowl on a table several feet from the door, then grasped the hem of his hoody and pulled it up over his head as he said.

"Don't be shy. Come on in and make yourself at home-" He shook out the hoody for a second then hung it up on a hook hanging on the wall above the table, then ran his fingers through his hair just to make sure none of it was standing up strangely.

That sort of thing might have been okay if he were with Sam, but right now he was with a lady other than her, so looking his best and being on his _best_ behavior was a must for him.

His parents had raised him to be a gentleman. And granted his ghostly abilities had sort of thrown a little bit of a monkey wrench into their teachings, but _some_ stuff stuck.

Shara stepped through his front door and gently pushed it closed then slipped her shoes off. Danny observed her quietly while sort of fumbling with taking his shoes off in an effort to look more distracted than he actually was as she looked around.

His living room, much like the rest of his house, was nothing special.

It had plain sky blue walls with cream trim.

Pale blue upholsted chairs, a big screen TV, a large shelf of movies, a smaller shelf was next to it. This one containing a sterio system and a bunch of CD's. Three coffee tables, two lamps. There were no knick knacks. He felt that they cluttered the place. No pictures aside from the few he had of his parents, Sam and Tucker, and his sister's wedding and her kids.

Aside from all of those things, his living room was pretty barren. But at least it was clean.

He finally stopped playing around with his shoes and slipped them off then walked up behind Shara and studied her while she was too distracted to notice.

She was a pretty little thing, her looks were on par with Sam's and his old school crush Paulina. Though her face was maybe more hauntingly beautiful than the their's. She was a little bit taller than them, the top of her head reaching his chin where as Sam and Paulina only reached his chest.

Her hair was as dark as his, the length falling almost to the middle of her back. The tips curling this way and that. Her bangs were long and had to be styled to frame her face, the tips curling around her cheeks prettily.

Her body was petite, and delicate looking despite the generous curves that gave her a nice hour glass figure. He let his eyes wonder over her until he came to her legs, as a peculiar sort of smile tugged at his lips.

Danny was a leg guy.

To him there was nothing sexier on a woman than having long legs that would wrap around his waist while he- He mentally shook himself. He wasn't a perv by nature. Never had been, probably never would be.

But from time to time when he had been alone for too long, his mind just sort of...slipped right into the gutter. He just couldn't help himself. It had been months since his last sexual encounter and he had been feeling a mite frustrated rescently.

Shara turned around and looked up at him and he gave her an automatic_ I-won't-touch-you_ sort of smile in an effort to look less threatening than he probably came off as considering how quiet and stealthy he was.

"Uh... I hate to ask a silly question when you've been nice enough to invite me in, but-" Danny lifted a brow at her.

"But?" He prompted as she frowned up at him.

"Well it's obvious that you don't entertain visitors. So I can't help but wonder why you invited me into your home. What exactly is in this little arrangement for you?" Danny couldn't help but be surprised by her question since his inital thought was that she was a fool.

He mulled her question over for a second, his quick mind picking up on what she was too polite or uncomfortable to ask him.

Had he invited her in to take advantage of her? Ask her to preform certain acts in exchange for room and board.

If he had been younger, a different person, and a tad bit _less_ caring about how frightening situations like this could be for a young woman. Then he might have said yes. God knew he needed the outlet.

But he knew all too well how frightening situations like this one could be for young women. He knew just how hard it was to trust someone. Especially when there was no one around to _notice_ or _care_ if you went missing.

"I'm getting nothing out of this arrangement. I just sort of like helping people." He half lied to help her feel more at ease with him. It must have worked since she seemed to relax as he took her over night bag from her and politely showed her to where she'd be sleeping.


	3. Chapter 3

Spirited Away-

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Danny rolled out of bed the next morning at four thirty to go for his morning jog around the block. He'd had a little trouble sleeping the night before because of the simple fact that he had a very, very pretty woman in his house.

And it had _irked_ him a little bit that she was sleeping in the room down the hall instead of sharing his bed.

He didn't really understand why it irked him that Shara wasn't in bed with him. But after a few hours of mentally debating with himself he got past this irksome fact and managed to doze off with only a little bit of trouble. After that, he'd slept pretty well.

He groaned as he shuffled his way to the bathroom, wondering which genuis he had to thank for his bathroom being over thirty seven steps from his bed. Didn't house designers know that people wanted their bathroom's like three steps from their beds? Especially when some of them didn't want to really get up in the morning.

He flicked on the lights and grabbed his tooth brush and glanced at himself in the mirror and blinked.

He could barely recognize his own reflection. He'd changed so much. Often times when he got up in the morning he still expected to look in the mirror and find himself a fourteen year old kid again. But as mentioned before, time has a way of changing people.

Sometimes for the worst. Sometimes for the better.

He didn't exactly know which catagory he fell under anymore.

He studied himself for a moment, noting the various things that made him different. There were so many of them, and not all of them were personality changes or quirks. Many of them were physical as well.

Danny had grown up to be an almost darkly beautiful man.

His jet black hair and neon blue eyes set him apart already. After all there weren't many normal people in the world with actual _natrual_ frigging neon blue eyes. And his hair just seemed to accent the color and make them pop. Making them seem as if they were glowing eerily.

He kept his hair styled much like it had been when he was a teen. Short in back and long in the front. The longest strands reaching the very tip of his chin while the rest fell here and there in soft layers.

He had a sensual mouth. The lower lip was just a little bit fuller than the top and he had a small cleft in his chin that was a genetic trait from his father. He had wide broad shoulders. An athletes muscular body.

Couple all of this with his height and he was a stone cold stunner.

Yet he had such trouble meeting a nice girl and dating.

The irony wasn't lost to him. He knew that it could be somewhat daunting for an ordinary woman to date him. His job as a government sanctioned ghost hunter was difficult. The hours were insane. He was usually in and out of his home at _all_ hours of the day and night.

There was little time for his family, even less time for his friends. And zero time to try and develop a social life.

And even if he did have the time to spare- What would he do with it? I mean it wasn't like he could walk up to someone, introduce himself and say 'I'm a half ghost; lets be friends' and then expect everything to fall into place.

The world and the people in it just didn't work like that. There was always going to be nine out of every ten people, that would either spit in his face, attack him, or hate him automatically.

And that was fine. He had matured in the past ten years and gotten past giving a _damn_ about what others thought of him.

He finished messing in the bathroom then went back into his bedroom and walked over to his dresser and opened the second drawer and pulled out a pair of black cotton sweat pants and stripped off the pair of flannel pants he'd put on last night before going to bed (because he had a guest) and pulled on the sweats then grabbed his IPod and quietly slipped from his room.

He walked down the hallway, pausing breifly by the slightly ajar door to the gurest room and peeked in for a second to check on Shara, thinking that she must have left already. He was only slightly surprised to see her curled up on her side facing him with a pillow tightly wrapped in her arms, one of her bare legs dangled off of the side of the bed.

Her sleep shirt must have beena few sizes too big for her. One side of the collar had slipped down one of her shoulders, and the hem of the shirt though long, was bunched up around her hips with the blanket.

Danny took a moment or two to register this fact before his blood pressure soared and he forced himself to look away from the sight and close the door to her room just in case she shifted positions by the time he came back. He figured the last thing he needed was to be thinking about all of that smooth creamy skin. He might say something stupid to her over breakfast or something.

Which was why he was going to ignore what he'd seen. Even though he didn't want too.

Even though it was sort of burned into his retina's.

Danny sighed and walked to his front door, grabbing his wallet and house keys from the bowl that he'd put them in last night then pulled on his hoody and his shoes and quietly slipped out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny returned home from his morning jog and automatically went right to his room where he stripped himself naked and then took a nice long shower. Figuring that he needed to bathe since he had a guest in the house with delicate sensibilities.

And the smell of BO might gross her out.

He stood under the spray, letting the warm water soak into his skin and run down the back of his head, his shoulders and back easing some of the tension out of his muscles as he grabbed the soap and started to lather himself up.

Once he was done with that, he rinsed off and then washed and rinsed his hair and then grabbed the razor that he kept in the shower and took the time to shave before turning off the water then pushing open the glass door and grabbing a towel.

He wrapped the towel around his hips and stepped out of the shower onto the cream and blue carpet that he'd put in the bathroom after a little slipping accident he'd had after first buying the house.

He'd come a hairs breath to looking death in the eye...for like the _kazillionth_ time.

Which in itself didn't really bother him. He and old Grimmy had become _awesome_ friends after all his years as a halfa. What had bothered him was that he'd actually almost honest to god _died_. From a simple crack on the head no less.

If not for the fact that he'd had an appointment that day with his parents, he and old Grimmy would have be doing some serious bonding for the rest of eternity. He grabbed a second, smaller towel and used it to dry his hair and face then tossed it into the laundry basket before making his way out into the bedroom and grabbing some fresh clothes.

A black turtle neck sweater, a pair of darkly colored denim jeans and some socks. He got dressed and then tossed his other towel in the laundry basket then slipped out of the bedroom to head to the kitchen so that he could fix some coffee and maybe something to eat for himself and his guest.

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Shara's host was a predator with a capital _**P**_.

Which was why she'd had trouble sleeping. Her paranoid mind had kept her up most of the night with vivid pictures of her own murder, kidnapping, exct. And though she was more than a little relieved to have been wrong (lets face it anyone in her situation would have felt the same). It didn't stop her from doing a body check using the full length mirror hanging across the room from the bed.

She checked herself first by bending her body this way and that to make sure that it hadn't been used somehow then she checked for blood and bruises and bite marks.

Again she was relieved that there were none. Which put her a bit more at ease about being in a strange place.

But not much.

She sighed and dropped the hem of her night shirt back into place around her knees and grabbed her over night bag and pulled out her heart and kidney medicine and took them, hardly believing that it had been close to a month since she'd had a heart and kidney transplant after being in the car wreck that had killed her father.

She blinked at the sudden turn her mind had taken and ruthlessly shoved the thoughts aside. She didn't want to remember that night. She didn't want to remember telling her father to _drop dead_ just seconds before he'd died.

She didn't want to think about how hurt he must have felt by her words. Or how much regret he must have died with. She had her own regrets about that night. And unlike her father, she had to live with them to the best of her ability.

Shara stuffed the pill bottles back into her bag and then dug out some clean clothes, a hair brush and a scrunchy to pull her hair back with. She shook out her cream colored off the shoulder shirt and set it aside so that she could put on her red lace bra then grabbed the shirt and pulled it over her head then shifted her attention to the pair of skinny jeans that she'd found at the bottom of her bag and quickly pulled them on.

She could hear the faint sounds of her host moving around down the hall. And knowing that he was awake and mobile was starting to make her paranoid again.

She fastened the button and then stuffed her night shirt into her bag then looked at herself in the mirror and after some debate with herself decided that she didn't really need to brush her hair.

She'd just run her fingers through it and do whatever. She picked up her brush and stuffed it back into the bag then grabbed it and her shoes and headed for the bedroom door. She had just one last thing to do, then she would leave. And she was in a hurry to get it done.

She wanted to get out of this house before she wore out her welcome.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny had been flipping the bacon he was frying when his house guest came barreling into the room like a crazy person.

He looked at her curiously, wondering what had her so wound up this early in the morning and was just a little bit startled when she started to apologize and babble about wearing out her welcome.

He stood there for a second unsure of what to do or say and let her finish up her ramble before he bothered to say, "Sit down. You're going to eat breakfast with me before you go."

She blinked at him, her expression blank for a second. He repeated himself. This time there was no denying that he'd just given her an order that he expected her to obey. She looked a little bit uncomfortable but did as he said and sat down at the small counter attached to the island in the middle of his kitchen.

He picked up a glass of orange juice sitting on the counter next to him and set it down in front of her and gave it a slight push in her direction with the back of his hand. "Do you have your medicine on you?" He asked all of a sudden. His voice soft.

Shara frowned and was about to ask him how he knew that she had a medical condition, but then vaguely recalled that she had told him so last night when he'd asked her if anything was wrong.

"Yeah I have it on me." She finally said after a second or so.

Danny leaned over the island and tapped the counter beside her cup. "Take your medicine." It was another order that he expected her to obey. And as much as it _should_ have bothered her that he was giving her orders. She found it strangely, well, _sweet_ that he was trying to look out for her.

"I-I've already taken them." She stuttered as a faint blush crept up into her cheeks as he stared at her.

"When?"

"A-A few minutes ago. When I first got up." He made a humming sound and then turned back to the food on the stove and pulled the bacon out of the pan before it could burn and asked in a slightly curious tone.

"What sort of medicine is it?"

"It's stuff to suppress my immune system-" He stiffened and jerked his head around to look at her again, a frown marring his features.

Danny wracked his brain for a moment trying to figure out why she would need to suppress her immune system when the answer hit him like a ton of bricks. Holy shit. Was she an organ transplant survivor? And if she was, which organ had had to be replaced?

"W-Which organ was transplanted?" He stuttered over the words a little bit. He couldn't help it, he was just so _shocked_. To his knowledge there was only a few reasons why an organ would need to be transplanted.

Genetic defect. Illness. Desease. And irreparable damage to the organ/organs that was so severe that it threatened the life of the person carrying it.

Shara looked a little caught off guard by his question but answered him anyways. "My heart and one of my kidney's." Danny sighed and fought down the urge to swear. _Dammit._

Now that he knew that, he would feel more inclined to get involved in her life until she made a full recovery. "How long ago was the transplant?"

"A month as of..." She looked around his kitchen. He assumed that she was searching for a calender. She wouldn't find one but he could give her the date and which day of the week it was if that would help her with her calculations. "Uh... you don't have a calender."

"I know. It's Saturday. March the third."

"Oh! That helps, thanks. Okay it's been a month since the accident as of...Monday of last week."

"How much longer until you make a full recovery?"

"I'm fine _now-" _Shara said, putting emphisis on the 'now'. Which amused Danny somewhat since he could think up at least a dozen plausible arguments that countered her opinion of being fine. "But my doctors have me under observation for the next two in a half months. Just to be safe." Danny made another humming sound and finished fixing her plate.

He picked it up then turned and started to put it down but stopped himself at the last second and looked at the food then at her and _cringed_. "You can eat eggs and bacon and stuff can't you?" Because if she couldn't then he'd made the extra food for nothing.

She gave him a dazzling smile. "Yes. Yes I can." Danny blushed and felt like an idiot for a second then handed her the plate then turned around to grab her a fork. The two of them ate their breakfast while indulging in polite conversation.

Shara would ask Danny something, then he'd ask her something in return. Questions like, did she have a doctor that was in the area? Or did she have to drive out of city to see a specialist?

Shara told him that she had a doctor in town that she usually went to see about her heart and kidney. She also told him that she had several doctor's appointments coming up and how stressed she got when ever she had one appointment after another.

Danny didn't say anything. He had no doubt that going to one appointment after another could be stressful to a person in her position. Organ transplants were tricky things after all. Because everything could be fine one day then a week or more later, your entire body is shutting down because your rejecting the organ.

He imagined that Shara must be all but _terrified_ to go to the doctor's.

He finished off the rest of his food then set his fork aside and picked up his coffee cup and took a sip of the scalding liquid before offering somewhat awkwardly, "If you want I'll go with you to the next few appointments... Unless of course, you have someone who can go with you for moral support already."

"I've only been back in town for a month, so I don't really have any friends-" Shara said as she set her fork on her plate and then picked up her juice and sort of sloshed the liquid around in her cup, with a thoughtful look on her pretty face. "Having someone around for moral support would be nice. But..."

"But?"

"It doesn't really feel right asking someone I don't know to go with me. I mean, if I'm stressed out about the appointments then I could only imagine the toll it might take on someone else."

"So that's a no then?" Danny asked curiously. Shara looked a little upset for a second, then blanked her face and looked away. Yeah, that was a no.

_Well, I guess this is it._ Danny thought sadly as Shara stood up and grabbed her bag and looked at him. "Thank you for letting me stay here." He gave her a small smile while his mind practically _screamed_ at him to stop her from leaving.

Danny held himself back though. Feeling that it would be wrong to get himself tangled up with a girl like her. She was far too _fragile_ to survive his attentions. Not only that but his job would place her in danger.

"I'll walk you to the door." Danny said, resigning himself to his solitary life as he walked around the island and stopped beside her for a second before the two of them moved on.

Shara got ahead of him a little bit because he stopped by the table where he kept his keys and wallet and pulled out a spare key to his house and then looked at her. He had to let her go. This was absolute.

But no one ever said that he couldn't have a companion if she decided that she was up to filling the role. He'd give her the spare key and let her decide. But how could he pull it off without her getting pissed and throwing the piece of metal back in his face?


	6. Chapter 6

The answer came to him as Shara opened the door and looked back at him. He'd get in close and distract her so that he could slip the key into her pants pocket. The question was now was; how was he going to distract her?

Somehow pulling the old 'look it's Elvis' bit seemed just lame to him. So that was out. And he seriously doubted that he could count on a meteor falling from the sky or something and leveling half the block...

God what the hell was wrong with him? He couldn't actually be hoping for a meteor could he?

He looked at her through slightly narrowed eyes. All he needed was an opening. It didn't have to be a big one and it certainly didn't need to last for very long. Just long enough for him to carry through with his plan.

He could work with everything else as time went by. She turned and looked at him for a second as she stepped out the door, and frowned when he followed her out and left the front door wide open. "What are you doing?"

"Walking you to your truck." Danny said as he fell into step beside her.

Shara frowned again but said nothing as they reached her truck. She unlocked the driver side door and opened it and tossed her over night bag into the passenger seat then turned around to say goodbye to Danny properly.

And was startled when she bumped into his chest and started to stagger back as his arms came up and wrapped around her.

She hadn't realised that he was _that_ close to her.

She tipped her head back and looked at him for a second, he was staring at her with an almost pained expression on his face before he muttered an oath under his breath then said very softly, "Sorry for this." Then lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers.

Shara's eyes went wide in shock as she felt something warm and moist snake along her bottom lip before he applied a little bit more pressure to her lips.

Shara's lips parted of their own volition and she gave a muffled cry as his tongue swept inside of her mouth.

Danny meant for the kiss to be gentle, sweet, and chaste. He meant to only taste her briefly. He didn't expect her lack of a response to his kiss to be a total turn off, but for some strange reason her lack of an experienced response _inflamed_ his dorment passion.

Causing his fraying control to snap.

He growled deep in his throat as he tasted her. Shara didn't taste anything like a normal woman. She tasted sweet and innocent. And her lack of a response either made him think that she was still a virgin or she had very little experience with kissing.

Which meant that she had probably been ill used in the past.

He slanted his mouth over hers and touched his tongue to hers then pulled it back before touching it back to hers in an effort to get her to respond. He was about to lift his mouth from hers and let her go when he felt just the slightest, almost shy brush of her tongue again his own.

He growled again and pressed her back against the side of her truck and pinned her there with her wrists on either side of her shoulders and pressed his body as close to hers as he dared as he ravished her mouth.

His kiss was hungry. Shara couldn't recall a time when a man had kissed her as if he couldn't wait to be inside of her. Her mind reeled, her body heated, and her lungs burned as she made a soft distressed sound and lifted one leg to wrap around his waist and pulled his body closer until she could feel all of him pressing against her.

Danny made a strange sound in the back of his throat as she wrapped her leg around him and pulled him close enough to rub up against as Danny let go of her wrists and ran his hands lightly along her sides until he reached the hem of her shirt and slipped one of his hands under it.

Shara twitched as she felt his fingers brush up against her stomach as he slowly trailed his finger tips along her skin until he was palming one of her breasts through her lace bra. She made another distressed sound as she grasped Danny's shoulders in her hands and gave him a small push to let him know that she wasn't ready for his hand to be there.

Danny got the hint and removed his hand and instead placed it on her hip with his other one as he pulled his head back, breaking the scorching kiss to nuzzle her cheek, then the underside of her jaw so that he could get to her neck. He buried his face against her throat and shuddered.

"Tell me what I need to do-" He said after a moment or so in a rough sounding voice, his breath causing goosebumps to appear along her skin as a shiver ran through her body. She tightened her grip on his shoulders, digging her nails into them through his shirt.

"D-Do?" She asked stupidly, her mind still not functioning right from being kissed so thoroughly. A strange rumbling sound filled her ears, the sound vibrating deep in his chest before he said in a husky tone.

"Tell me what I have to do to get you to stay."


	7. Chapter 7

Two weeks later-

Danny stood in front of his bathroom mirror wearing a black suit and shirt and was trying to tie a dark blue neck tie around his neck. But he was having trouble tying it right due to the fact that he so rarely got out.

And because he was excited about tonight, he'd chosen to wear a suit and tie in the hopes that he could further impress Shara on their date tonight.

He still couldn't believe that she had decided to give him a chance just because of his desperate plea. _"Tell me what I have to do to get you to stay..." _Although to be perfectly honest with himself, he hadn't meant to say those words aloud.

They had simply slipped out.

He'd been totally mortified after he'd said them and had hidden his face against her neck so that she wouldn't see him turn red. But things had worked out, he supposed as he tried once again to tie the neck tie properly and failed.

Shara had not only taken his extra house key, but had found several excuses since then to swing by his place and spend time getting to know him a little bit. They curled up on his couch and watched TV together. She sometimes cooked him dinner. She had even spent the night with him a time or two since they had started dating.

He made a frustrated growling sound and looked longingly at his cell phone. Wishing that he could call his sister Jazz, or his long time friend Tucker, for help.

But knew that if he did and they found out that he was going on a date, he'd soon have his parents Jack and Maddie as well as his other friend/ex-girlfriend Sam; _all_ knocking on his door demanding to meet Shara.

It was much too soon for him to introduce her to any of them since they had only just started dating. Besides that, if he introduced her to them _now_ she would think he was as insane as the rest of them.

And he didn't want that until he had her good and ensnared. Maybe after they were married or something.

He went totally still and stared at himself in the mirror, his eyes wide, his expression shell shocked.

Where had _that_ thought come from? It was true that he hated being alone for long periods of time. But did he really think that he was _ready_ to give a steady relationship a chance? Was he really ready to settle down?

He slowly dropped his hands to his sides and thought for a moment.

His own answers to his questions startled him a little bit. God_ yes_ he was ready. He was ready to have what his parents and his sister had. He was ready to settle down with a nice girl and have a family.

He blinked and looked down at himself. A small frown marring his features. How had he not noticed this until now?

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Shara finished styling her hair and then stepped back to look at herself in the mirror and blinked.

Wow. So this is what she looked like when she dressed up nice.

She blushed a little bit and looked down at herself, feeling more than a little bit nervous about the way she looked. Shara had always been a pretty girl, but she had never really payed attention to that fact.

She'd never noticed the boys in school looking at her. Had never really known why random people would walk up to her and ask her out. To put her personality into perspective; she didn't know that she was beautiful. She only saw herself as just another person.

She was a little flakey, absent minded, kind, and sweet natured. And didn't understand why people always felt the need to tell her how pretty she was. She had even grown to dislike it when people told her she was pretty.

Which was part of the reason that she had never really dated before. Well, maybe that wasn't the right way to describe what she had done when she was younger. She had _tried_ to date a guy once for about a month.

She'd been a little bit of a book worm back then and had been entirely new to the dating scene and hadn't know what was normal for a new couple. It hadn't helped that the guy that she had been 'dating' had preassured her into sleeping with him.

And she had given in so easily that she was disgusted with herself for _actually_ liking him. She'd gone to school the day after they had slept together and had been greeted at the door by a group of guys who had liked her.

They had told her straight out what they had wanted from her now. She had been so hurt and scared that she had dropped out of school and gotten her deploma at a night school program so that she wouldn't have to face those people.

But fate was a funny thing.

And just when she had thought she was free of them and their scorn, she had run into the guy that had ruined her reputation. She had met with that guy again.

She remembered freezing up like a deer caught in the head lights of an on coming vehicle and had been so shocked to see him again that she had never noticed when he had grabbed her. And dragged her towards his car where he'd had a few friends waiting for him and had introduced her as their 'entertainment' for the night.

She'd snapped out of it then and had turned on him hissing and spitting like an angry cat. She had lashed out out of anger, hurt and fear and had left him covered in bruises, bite marks and scratches before she had run away.

Leaving the bastard humiliated and bleeding while his friends laughed.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself and looked in the mirror again. She wasn't that person anymore. She'd taken self defense lessons along with some karate classes and kick boxing before the car wreck had happened. So she knew more or less how to take care of herself if she ever found herself in that situation again.

She merely chose not to use the knowledge unless it was absolutely necessary. And so far with Danny she had been pleasantly surprised. All he did when they were together was sit close to her and hold her hand. Then when she was leaving he would walk her to the door and kiss her breathless, then he'd turn and walk away.

It had puzzled her at first, but over the past few weeks she had come to understand how Danny's mind worked.

He didn't think of her as a toy or a means to an end. He thought of her as a lady and treated her accordingly. Choosing to take his time and get to know her and letting her get to know him as well.

It was rather old fashioned and kind of sweet of him. And god knew that she appreciated his efforts.

Which was why she had dressed up for their first date. Like Danny, she wanted to make a lasting impression on him. Like he had with her.


	8. Chapter 8

Danny gave up on the tie after about the uptenth try and tossed the damn thing across the room in irritation and silently vowed to burn the blasted silk monstrosity later. After his date. Then grabbed his wallet, car keys, and the flowers that he'd bought for her and then walked out of his bathroom.

To kill time he phased through the walls to get to his car quicker.

And once there he climbed in and started it up and then phased it through his garage door (again to kill time)and then started towards Shara's place which he had descovered after the last time she had come by his place, was just three blocks away.

He'd seen her getting out of her truck while on his way to fight Stoker.

He pulled up to her cozy little two story cabin style house and parked his car as close to the curb as he could then got out and closed the door. He tugged at the collar of his shirt nervously and then dropped his hand and abently ran his finger tips over one of the flowers in his hands and walked towards the front porch.

Shara's front door swung open and he paused in his tracks as she stepped out of the house in a stunning halter style backless black dress that fell to her knees. Her hair was done in a half french braid that ended at the nape of her neck where it was tied off by a black rubber band. Leaving the rest of her dark hair to cascade down her back in soft waves and curls that made Danny's hands itch to touch the silken strands.

She wasn't wearing any make up aside from some tinted lip gloss. Though he could see that she had taken the time to paint her nails a soft pink to match the color of her lips. His eyes traveled lower, noting that her dress clung to her beautiful body. Showing the lush curves of her breasts, hips, and bottom to perfection. His mouth went dry as his eyes travelled lower.

She wasn't wearing any panty hose or stockings like other women would. Her legs were completely free of the confining material, leaving her legs touchablly smooth. Her shoes were simple two inch heels. Not that stupid toeless, strappy mess that was such a pain to pull on and off.

All in all Danny was very pleased by how she looked.

"Is something wrong?" Shara asked as she walked down the steps slowly. Danny moved forward a little bit more sensing that she wasn't used to walking in heels and wanted to catch her if she somehow managed to trip over her own feet.

He stopped at the bottom step and dropped the flowers when she teetered dangerously for a second before she fell forward and slammed into him. An alarmed squeak escaping her as he wrapped his arms around her and chuckled. "Your not very good at walking in heels huh?"

Shara tipped her head back and looked at him oddly then looked away, embarrassed. "Not really. I've only worn the things once in the whole time I've had them." She admitted almost shyly. Danny grinned down at her.

"Really? I feel honored."

"You should. I don't almost break my neck for just anyone." Shara joked as she pushed against his chest. He automatically loosened his hold on her and let her step back while thinking, _No I don't suppose you would. _

He knelt down and picked up the flowers that he had dropped and handed then to her, watching her expression curiously.

Shara didn't react to the flowers like he had expected. She didn't ooh or ahhh over them like any other woman would. Instead she gave him a questioning look that made him ask, "Hasn't anyone ever given you flowers before?"

Shara blushed a little bit and then shook her head no then asked tentatively, "Can I really keep them?" Danny looked a little shocked by her innocent question but nodded his head anyways and blinked when Shara gave him a heart stopping smile.

Wow, that one had thrown him for a loop. Danny rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from her as he thought. _If she reacts this way to getting flowers then how is she going to react when we finally have sex?_


	9. Chapter 9

Danny couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he was setting himself up for something serious. He'd thought so earlier when he'd picked Shara up for their date and he still thought so now when they walked into the nicest restaurant in Amitiy.

A cozy place that resided in one of the most historic buildings in Amitiy Park.

The restaurant served ten kinds of professionally made cuisine ranging from Asian, to Cajun. Danny had never been to the restaurant before but had taken the time out a few days ago to do a little bit research on good places to eat.

He'd read the reviews posted for the place and had noticed that everyone who had eaten there and posted something on the net about it, had nothing but good things to say and so had gone ahead and after making sure that they would have no problem with him being there.

Then he'd arranged for a corner booth somewhere dimly lit and arranged for some of their meal to consist of oysters, crayfish, and shrimp.

It hadn't occurred to him to ask her if she could even eat fish until they were already seated and some of their food was laid out before them. Only then did he think to ask Shara if it was okay for her to eat the food in front of her.

She must have known that he was nervous about whether or not she had food allergies or something. Because instead of answering him she picked up one of the oysters and tipped her head back and downed it then set the empty shell aside and smiled at him.

He gaped at her for a second and then quickly dug his cell phone out of his suit pocket and dialed nine-one-one just in case and waited for the inevitable to happen and after several minutes gradually calmed his nerves enough to relize that nothing was going to happen and put the phone away.

"Geez, you could have just said that you weren't allergic. You didn't have to scare ten years off of my life." Danny said as he picked up one of the shell fish and downed it whole. Shara grinned at him and downed another oyster then licked her lips and asked.

"What's the fun in that? You know I've gotten rather fond of picking on you."

Danny grunted and laughed softly. He knew that she liked picking at him. He'd been the victim of her practical jokes more than once in the time they'd been seeing each other. "I've got another joke for you-" Shara said out of the blue and Danny set his food aside and laced his fingers together and rested his elbows on the table.

"Fire away."

"Why can't witches and warlocks have baby's?"

Danny's lips twitched. "No idea. Why?"

"Because they have hollow weenies and crystal balls." Danny stared at her for a moment as he mentally repeated the joke in his mind before laughing. _Oh that was horrible!_ Danny thought as his laughter died down. He'd never heard a joke as insulting and funny as this one was.

Hollow weenies and crystal balls indeed. "That was great-" Danny said as he picked up his food and quickly wolfed it down then said with a grin. "I'm calling both of my friends later on and telling that joke to them."

"Think they'll like it?"

"Absolutely. It's twisted and insulting and funny all at once. They'll love it."

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Sorry Cha- I couldn't help myself. The joke was too good to pass up.


	10. Chapter 10

Vlad Masters, the former mayor of Amity Park was sitting in the back of the restaurant when Danny Phenton walked in with an lovely young lady on his arm and sat down. Vlad instantly zeroed in on his long time enemy and watched the young man laugh and joke with the woman as they ate, and felt an intense surge of jealousy and hatred towards the younger man.

Here he was a lonely and bitter man in his fifties. And there was Phenton, the half ghost boy who had ruined his life and exposed him as the evil person he was. Why it had taken years just for Vlad to be able to show his face in Amity Park again, and even upon having Danny agree to let him return to his former home...

He'd placed a specially made ghost shield bracelet around Vlad's left wrist and then used some of his ghostly energy to make the bracelet intangible so that Vlad couldn't touch it or pull it off. Or smash it against something. Or short it out...

And in turn it kept him from going ghost and using his powers in any shape, form or fashion. All but rendering him powerless.

"Oh, I hate that boy!" He growled in irritation as he found himself slowly getting to his feet and straightening his shirt and tie before he walked over to Danny's table and none too nicely kicked the boy's chair to get his attention just as Danny was taking a bite of his food.

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Danny thought his date was going well. Shara was proving herself to be a charming, sweet, and somewhat twisted person with a quick sense of humor. They traded stories about growing up (he of course kept things about being a halfa to himself, if the topic ever came up later _then_ he'd tell her something).

He told about the time he and Tucker and Sam had done a report on purple back gorillas, then how Sam had freed the eight hundred pound monster ape and how they had had to run like hell to keep from being caught by it. Which was only a half lie since the gorilla had helped them with Skulker.

He told her about his family and their hobby of chasing and capturing ghosts and had been surprised by the fact that Shara herself had indulged in a little bit of paranormal stuff herself when she was younger.

He was so entranced by her latest story that he didn't notice anyone coming up behind him and went ahead and took another bite of his food just in time to nearly jump out of his skin as his chair was kicked.

Causing him to choke for a moment as Shara got up out of her chair and thumped him on the back while she glared at the person standing next to their table now.

Danny coughed a few more times as Shara thumped him on the back harder to help him get his food down and finally he lifted an arm up to let her know that he was fine and turned angry glowing green eyes towards the person who had almost caused him to choke to death and inwardly growled, _Vlad Masters, you sorry son of a bitch! _

"Hello Daniel. Having a nice time?" Vlad asked in a mocking tone. An devious little smirk curving his lips as he noted the color of Danny's eyes. Oh-oh, it looked like Daniel was itching to get back at him for his stunt just now. His ghost half was showing.

Danny used his napkin to wipe his mouth then set the cloth aside and slowly stood to his full height and towered over the older man by a foot. "Vlad Masters, it hasn't nearly been long enough since I last saw you."

"How you wound me Daniel-"

"My name is Danny, shit for brains. Call me Daniel again and I'll make it so that you leave this place a few teeth short." Danny growled, his whole body practically vibrating with rage.

It didn't take a genius to realize that Danny and the man speaking with him didn't like each other. The two gave off this mental image of a pair of wolves baring their fangs at each other.

Shara stood there listening to the two of them snarl at each other and sighed, wondering why they didn't just piss on each other's pants legs and get it over with when the elderly man looked at her, his lips curved up in an evil little smile and asked in a chilling tone, "Why Daniel, who's this lovely creature? She couldn't be your girlfriend could she?"

Shara waited a heartbeat and was suddenly grabbed by Danny and pulled flush against his body and said in an enraged tone, "I swear to god Masters- if you so much as _breathe_ the same air as her... _I'll rip your lungs out._"

Shara tipped her head back and looked up at Danny, the cheerful and gentle man she'd been on a date with mere moments before was gone. Replaced by a _furious _and_ angry_ young man who looked pretty much capable of murder as he and the elderly man stared each other down. After a moment or so the elder smirked at them. "Sure you would Danny." He said in that same mocking tone that he'd used before as he turned and walked away.

Danny kept her in his arms, his expression remaining dark until the other man was gone. Only then did he seem to relax enough to slowly let his arms drop from around her and asked her to retake her seat.

She did so though she wanted to ask him what was wrong and when he picked up his fork again she noticed that his hand was shaking almost violently. He ended their dinner a while after that and asked her if there was anything else that she wanted to do- seeming almost apologetic for having their date disturbed and when she said no he got a crestfallen look and nodded his head and went to pay their check then walked her out to the car.

Effectively ending their first date.


	11. Chapter 11

Danny didn't say much when he dropped Shara off at her place. Though he did apologize for ruining things then kissed the back of her hand and walked back to his car and without another word disappeared from sight. Leaving Shara standing on her front porch feeling terribly cheated.

Don't get her wrong she knew that the evening being ruined wasn't Danny's fault, but for some odd reason he seemed to think otherwise. And that kind of pissed her off as much as his shutting her out.

Sighing she looked down at herself and made an annoyed sound. She'd worked so hard to make herself look nice for a first date that had ended so badly that her date wouldn't even talk to her. Well, she'd fix his little red wagon.

She was a fairly grounded person, a firm believer in patience and understanding.

And she wanted the perfect ending to what should have been the perfect date. With an idea firmly in mind she unlocked her front door and slipped inside to change her clothes. She slipped into a nice button up cream cotton and lace shirt with a square neckline and some shorts and then pulled on some soft leather cream colored shoes.

And then grabbed her wallet and car keys and stopped by the mantle in her living room where she had placed the flowers that Danny had given to her earlier and carefully pulled one of the lilies from the vase and headed for the door.

She wasn't sure if Danny would see her or not but she was going to do her damndest to salvage what was left of the evening. She'd stop by a store and grab some drinks, stop by the nearest chinese place and grab something to snack on and then grab some movies then she'd go see if Danny was up to just hanging out.

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Danny was sitting on his couch an hour later with all the lights turned off, a small glass of scotch in one hand. Sulking over how badly the evening had turned out. Showing one's temper was not something that should be done on an offical first date..._ever_. But he couldn't help but feel _anxious_, and even_ enraged_ about Vlad noticing Shara.

His protective instincts had simply kicked in and before he'd realized what he was doing, he had been threatening the man's life. He simply didn't want Shara anywhere near that man's nasty old ass. He was weird and he was crazy- both not in the amusing way.

_I should have killed him nine years ago when he came back to Amity_. Danny thought darkly as he took a sip of his drink and hissed softly as it burned it's way down his throat.

Not that killing Vlad would do anything for him now since everything was ruined. He doubted that Shara would ever speak to him again much less date him. He sighed and let his head fall back and closed his eyes when all of a sudden his front door opened and the lights were flicked on.

Danny reacted the way he'd been conditioned to react, he hissed like a cat and slipped out of his seat and flattened himself on the floor and tried to blend in with his living room carpet. Which was more difficult that one would imagine when you were wearing a suite and had dark hair.

He lay there with his heart hammering in his chest, praying that the person/persons standing in his door way wasn't his sister or parents when he heard Shara say, "What the hell are you doing trying to mate with the carpet?" She sounded puzzled and amused as she stepped in and gently closed the door behind her as Danny picked himself up off of the floor a little bit to peer at her around the corner of his couch.

His eyes wide for a moment before he scowled and asked, "What are you doing here?" Did she come to say something to him? Maybe burn his house down to show her disdain of him?

"I came to hang out." She said cheerfully as she walked over and Danny tipped his head back as she got loser and noted the movies tucked under one arm, the plastic bag that smelled like it had food in it. And the flower in her hand.

She set the movies and the food down on the coffee table and then dropped down to her knees in front of him and held out the flower to him. He frowned, wondering what she was doing but recognised the flower as one from the bouquet that he'd given to her and hesitantly reached out and took it from her fingers as he pushed himself up and sat back on his heels and spun the stem between his fingers then looked at her, confused.

"What's this for?" He asked stupidly.

Shara gave him a shy smile and leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips causing his mind to sputter to a stop as she pulled back and said coyly, "Can't you take a wild guess." Danny's mouth went dry as his mind started working again and he nodded his head and reached out and pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

Oh thank god! She still wanted to see him!

He could have died a happy man right then and there as Shara giggled and hugged him back.


	12. Chapter 12

Danny leaned down and kissed Shara's cheek as she slept then pulled the blanket that he'd dug out of one of his closets for her, over her shoulders then settled back on the opposit side of the couch to finish his movie. He still couldn't believe that she'd come over to his place to see him almost immidiately after what had happened during their date.

He'd been so sure that he'd blown any chance he had of ever being close to her. Boy had he been wrong.

Shara it seemed was a stubborn woman when she wanted to be. Odd that he'd never noticed that about her before. He thought as he took another drink of the beer he'd grabbed from his fridge a while ago. It was warm now due to the fact that he'd neglected it to make out with Shara instead of watching the movie she'd put in.

But now that she was asleep he could finish it off _and_ finish his movie before he hit the sack himself. Shara murmered something in her sleep as he felt her bare feet against his upper thigh. Glancing away from the TV screen to see what she was doing, he nearly jumped when she tried to stick her feet behind his back. Humming softly he reached out and grasped her feet in his hand and blinked when he noticed how cold they were to the touch.

Ah, so that's what she was trying to do. Warm her feet using his body heat. Rolling his eyes he let go of her, and leaned forward a little bit and let her slip her feet behind his back and shuddered as he settled himself back as he felt the coolness of her skin slowly seep through his shirt.

This was nice. Maybe not as good as making out, but nice just the same. It had been such a long time since anyone had made him felt needed outside of his job or his ghost abilities. It was nice to have finally met someone that liked him as a human being.

Someone who wasn't using him because they were an adrenaline junkie or a danger junkie, always expecting to be saved by him.

Someone who didn't want to be _Danny Phantom's_ girlfriend. But would settle instead for- and be happy with _Danny Phenton_.

He was about to take another drink of his beer when his cell phone started vibrating in his pants pocket, startling him so badly that he dropped his drink and muttered an oath as some of the liquid spilled out onto his sock covered feet as he jumped around and started digging into his pocket to get his phone while growling in annoyance as he took turns shaking his feet.

All of his jerky actions startling Shara awake as he finally managed to get his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the number. Oh shit, his mom or dad was calling! He glanced over at Shara and flipped the phone open and hesitantly said hello.

His mother's voice sounded on the other end of the phone, her tone a little irritated as she said, _"Daniel Jack Phenton! What is this business your father and I heard about you having a girlfriend?" _Danny inwardly cringed a little bit at his mothers tone as she snapped, _"Well, Danny? I'm waiting for an explination on why you've been hiding this from us." _

"Because you and dad are overly excitable and I didn't want you both to scare her away." Danny said half jokingly. His mother got quiet for a second then sighed.

_"You're right son, we are a touch excitable when it comes to you and your sister...but that's no reason to hide this from us. We want to share every aspect of your life."_

"I know. And while that's creepy in a sweet and weird way, I just want to have Shara to myself for a little bit longer." Danny said in a tone that was half coaxing, half pleading.

_"Well, I can certainly understand that. However-" Oh god here it comes._ Danny thought as he closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. _"We'll be there in ten minutes to meet this, uh, Shara girl. Oh and we're bringing Jazz, Sam and Tucker with us!" _There was a soft click and Danny hung his head and whimpered as Shara slowly sat up, now wide awake and completely aware that something seemed to be wrong.

"Danny? What's wrong?"

"My parents, sister and friends are coming over to talk to me about hiding you from them-"

"Ah. Ashamed of me already huh." Shara said as she used one hand to stifle a yawn. Danny gave her a funny look apparently not wanting to touch _that_ question with a ten foot pole.

Then flopped down on the couch beside her and asked nervously. "Do you want to stay and meet them all?"

Shara shrugged her shoulders, she didn't care one way or the other. If he wanted her to meet them then she would. If not then she'd leave. "It's up to you Danny. Do you want me to meet them?"

"I do. I just didn't want you to meet them so soon. My parents and sister can be a bit..._daunting_. And Sam and Tucker won't readily accept you until they think you won't break my heart."

"It must be nice."

"Nice?" Danny asked with a confused look on his face as he turned his head to look at her. She gave him a pained look and he mentally kicked himself. Of course, how could he forget that her dad was dead. "I'm sorry Shara. I forgot about your dad passing on." He said as he set his cell phone aside and reached out and slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side.

"It's okay Danny. I know that you didn't mean to just stick your foot in your mouth."

"You can give me a wedgie in retaliation if you like."

"Okay. But I won't tell you when I'm going to do it."

Danny looked a little bit uncomfortable then quickly said, "Please don't do it in front of my family."

"Alright, I won't."


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Danny asked for the umpteenth time as he ran his hands up and down Shara's arms in an anxious manner, his expression worried. He wasn't so sure that having her meet his family right now was a good idea. His dad was a blabber mouth. His mom and sister would want to know how far they'd gone.

Tucker might hit on her... And then he'd hit Tucker.

And Sam- well Sam was unpredictable.

Always had been. Always would be. And deep down inside he couldn't help wondering if she might become jealous of the fact that he was dating again after how things had ended between them when they had been in school. He'd managed to stay friends with her after their breakup, but it took a lot more work than it should have.

Still...

Maybe he should warn them all to be on their best behavior before he let them in. After all the last thing he needed was for Shara to start having chest pains or something because of something that they might do.

"Danny if you're this uncertain about me meeting your parents, sister, and friends then our relationship isn't going to go very far." Shara pointed out to him, making him blink.

Damn!_ She has a point there._ Danny thought begrudgingly as he opened his mouth to ask her _again_ if this was what she really wanted, and had his voice drowned out by the screech of tires outside. Sighing he turned a peculiar shade of green and then he bit the inside of his cheek.

_Motherfucker. _He thought darkly as he heard a series of car doors slam and sighed and then said in a weak tone.

"We can still escape out the back if we run now-" Shara looked up at him and gave him an amused smile then stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the corner of his lips, melting his resistance along with his heart.

Half groaning, half whimpering, Danny pulled her against him so that her body was pressed against his own a little more fully and gave her a quick kiss on the lips as someone started beating on his door.

Letting Shara go abruptly, Danny gave her a look of longing before moving to answer his front door before it was knocked down by whoever was beating on it. Danny opened the door and stood back almost immediately as a large man in an orange jump suit with graying hair more or less barreled through the door.

Followed by two full figured red headed women, a young woman about Danny's age in a purple and black outfit with lace trim and an dark skinned man with a black hat on and his hair in dredlocks.

"Danny!" The man exclaimed before siezing the halfa in a spine crushing bear hug as everyone else looked on almost indifferently. Shara stood there watching partially out of curiousity and partially out of jealousy.

She would give anything to have her dad show up at random and hug her like that again.

She looked away and tried to think of something aside from the sudden pain in her chest and didn't realize that she'd been noticed until she felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder and jerked her head around to see who was touching her.

It was the elder of the two redheads, though the woman still had a fairly youthful and beautiful appearance, Shara could detect some silver in her hair from this up close. "Hello." The woman said in a kind tone, her violet eyes calculating in a way that made Shara wonder what she was thinking.

"Uh...h-hello." Shara said hesitantly, feeling just a little uncomfortable under the intensity of that violet eyed stare. That was the look that mothers gave to girls that they considered grandchild breeders.

The woman smiled pleasantly and took her hand and shook it as she said, "My name's Maddie. What's yours?"

"Shara." Shara said automatically, hoping that having an odd name might turn the woman off the possibility of- Maddie let go of her hand and placed both of her hands on Shara's waist and got another calculating look as the guy in orange asked.

"Well?"

"Her hips are wide enough."

"Fantastic! If Danny marries her then she should have no trouble carrying our grandkids!" The guy said happily as he finally let Danny go. Shara flushed and sputtered a little bit. Shocked and mortified that Danny's parents would go _there_ so early in the game as the woman smiled at her again then stepped aside to let the next person introduce themselves.

The next person up was the guy in orange, Danny's dad Jack Phenton, who shook her hand with so much enthusiasm that it almost wrenched her shoulder from it's socket as Danny moved to stand right behind her and slipped an arm around her shoulders and turned his fingertips invisible so that the coolness of his touch would sooth the ache without her noticing.

Next up was the other red headed woman, her name was Jazz and she informed Shara that she was Danny's older sister. And that she'd be watching her before she stepped away and let Tucker introduce himself.

Strangely enough Tuck behaved himself, much to Danny's shock and awe as he switched places with Sam who calmly and cooly introduced herself as Danny's friend and ex high school sweetheart. Causing Danny to cringe a bit inwardly as she shot him a dark look before going to have a seat on the couch as Shara turned her head to look at him.

His expression must have been something along the lines of _'oh shit'_ because Shara stared at him for a full minute before someone cleared their throat, jolting the two of them out of their private thoughts before Shara moved away from him to close the door which had been left wide open. Once it was closed she turned to face Danny's family and friends and forced herself to smile and said, "Well, I suppose that we should all talk. Hm."


	14. Chapter 14

Shara sat on the couch next to Danny, who had one arm around her shoulders as they stared down the group across from them. "_Sooo_...mom, how's...ya know, things?" Danny asked, trying to cut through some of the tension he felt in the room. Maddie looked at her son and smiled, but didn't answer his question.

She was more interested in his little girlfriend and how long they have been dating and such.

"If you really wanted to know how things were Daniel, you'd call more often-" Maddie finally said and watched in amusement as her son flushed and quickly looked away. "Now, why don't you tell us how you and Shara met, hm?"

Danny looked a little bit uncomfortable, and for good reason. Telling his parents that he had just picked Shara up off of the streets wasn't going to go over well even if she _did_ have a medical condition.

After all, Maddie, Jazz and Sam might think her a hooker. And while that might be acceptable to Tucker and Jack..._if_ the women didn't kill them first, but it wouldn't be acceptable to the women.

_Not. At. All. _

Danny opened his mouth to say something along the lines of 'We went to collage together' but that would be a fatal move that he would soon regret with Jazz in the room. Especially since she had gone to the same collage as him and had kept tabs on him well through his graduation. The crazy, overprotective, red headed-

"Well Danny, we're waiting." Sam prompted, her tone speaking volumes as he tried to keep himself from visibly cringing in the face of her inner bitchiness and absently shifted his arm so that his hand could play with Shara's hair. The small touch calmed his anxiety a bit. But only enough to finally say,

"Watch your tone Sam-" Danny's tone was bordering rude, taking his ex by surprise. He'd never talked to her that way before. Not even after they had broken up and gone through their 'pissy' period. That odd period after two good friends break up after they had dated for a while, where they sort of mourn and wonder about what could have been. "I won't have you're pissy attitude upsetting Shara." Danny snapped as everyone in the room stared at him almost in disbelief as he turned his head and buried his face against Shara's hair and watched Sam out of the corner of his eye.

Sam stared at him for a moment in shock then growled like an animal and ripped one of his couch cushions in half. Danny made a low threatening sound in the back of his throat and let his eyes flash green in warning as Shara poked him in the ribs and whispered in a low tone.

"Danny be nice. I wanna make a good impression."

Deciding to cut the tension in the room, Jazz asked. "So Shara, where are you from?"

Shara turned her head to look at her after giving Danny an funny sort of warning look and replied automatically, "I'm from Amity, ma'am." Jazz gave her a kind, sisterly smile that Danny didn't believe for a moment as she tried to figure out if she'd seen the young woman before. But as near as she could tell...she hadn't, and that was puzzling to her.

"Where did you go to school hon?" Maddie asked, following Jazz's line of thinking since Danny wouldn't tell how he had met the girl.

"Uh...you mean high school?"

"Yes."

"Oh. _Oh_- Well I went to a school in a different state for high school. My dad decided that it would be for the best after my mom died. So we moved out of state and I didn't come back until about a month ago..."

Maddie, Jazz, Sam, Tucker and Jack all exchanged looks for a moment before Sam sighed and said, "That must have been hard on you both. I could only imagine what my dad would do without my mom around."

"Oh hon, that's horrible!" Maddie said sympathetically before asking, "Did your dad come with you?" Both Danny and Shara visibly cringed as the halfa quickly covered Shara's little ears and hissed at his mother in a slightly panicked tone.

_"Tact! Tact! For the love of god use tact!" _Trying to tell his mother, sister, dad and friends that the subject of Shara's father was still a raw and bleeding wound that had yet to heal.

Maddie and the others looked a little confused by his actions, but otherwise said nothing as Shara reached up and forced Danny's hands away from her ears and gave her boyfriend a strange look before asking awkwardly as she got to her feet, "Does anyone want a drink or snack?"

Jack's hand automatically went up into the air as he bounced up and down in his seat, "OH! ME,ME,ME, ME!"

"Jack! Be quiet!" Maddie snapped at her husband causing him to drop his hand and pout slightly as Shara walked around the couch and disappeared into the kitchen. The second that she was gone, Danny got to his feet and sent his family a glare, letting them know that he was angry with them, and followed to see if she was okay.

Shara was standing over by the sink, her eyes fixed on something just outside of the small window that was over the sink, her expression was shuttered. Walking up behind her, Danny slipped his arms around her waist, startling her slightly if the small yelp that escaped her throat was any indication. He kissed her shoulder and the side of her neck then rested his chin on her shoulder and asked softly. "You okay sweetheart?"

Shara made a snifling sound and rubbed her eyes with the back of one hand then nodded. "I'm fine. I think I'm just tired." Danny was quiet for a moment, understanding the implications of her admittance.

"Does your chest hurt? Do you need to lay down?" He asked tentatively as he pulled away from her a bit and turned her around to face him. His expression worried as he gazed down at her. She really did look tired to him. He could see little lines of strain around her eyes- and her face...it was suddenly so pale. _I knew that I should have told mom and the others to leave. Look at what they're doing to her. _Danny thought as he pulled her flush against him and kissed her forehead then moved back away from her and said, "Go lay down and get some rest. I'll get rid of my parents."


	15. Chapter 15

Danny waited until Shara had made her way down the hallway to the guest room before he bothered to turn around and go back into the living room where his family was waiting. Maddie, Sam and Jazz were the first people to pick up on the fact that something was wrong the second they saw him.

Because when Danny was upset, he didn't just snap and snarl like he had as an adolecent. No, when Danny was upset now- he always bared his teeth.

It was an unconscious act of aggression. Much like when his eyes flashed that eerie glowing green.

So seeing him walk back into the room with his teeth bared was just a tad bit confusing and worrying to the three women as Tucker spoke up, finally deciding it was time he say something. "Hey, where's...whats her name? Share?"

Danny's eyes flashed green in warning as he snapped, "It's Shara." Then took a deep breath, seeming to catch himself and gave them all an apologetic look as he said. "And I'm sorry to do this but I need to end this visit. Shara isn't feeling well-"

Jazz snorted in disbelief. "She probably just told you that so that she wouldn't have too- _Omph_!" Jazz said as her brother went from standing across the room to standing right in front of her, his eyes that eerie green again as his hand covered her mouth as he growled,

"Shut it Jazz. Shara wanted to meet all of you, and despite my best judgement I let her. But she isn't up to par just yet and she might not be for a while-" Danny said with a pained look on his face. Jazz blinked at her brother and shut up like he wanted as their father reached across their mom's lap and grasped Danny's hand and asked,

"Son... What's wrong?" Danny looked at him and said evenly.

"Shara had a heart transplant a month ago when she first moved back here, to Amitey. The wounds haven't completely healed just yet. Her chances of having a heart attack within the time frame it will take for her to completely heal are more than _triple_ that of an average person. That's why I-"

"You don't have to say anymore son. We get it." Jack said as he and his wife stood up and looked at the others. Automatically expecting them to follow them without question. Sam and Jazz sighed, _damn_. At this rate they wouldn't learn anything about the woman.

Tucker stood and walked over to his best friend and patted him on the back as if to say, 'Don't worry too much man. Everything will be fine.' And if it wasn't... Danny knew that he could always call Tucker and Sam. Just like he knew he could always call on his family.

Danny gave his friend a small smile and some of the stress he'd been feeling melted away.

The group walked to the door making idle chit chat as they went, Danny following close behind. Speaking softly so that he didn't disturb Shara, just in case she was already asleep. They reached the door and everyone paused to look back at him, wondering why he always hung back. Sam and Tucker and Jazz somewhat understood the reasons why, but Jack and Maddie had never really understood though they had tried.

"When do you think the next time we can get together will be?" Maddie asked her son curiously. Danny thought for a moment then remembered the upcoming charity ball that was being held in the next week or so. He'd been asked to attend the event as Danny Phantom, his ghost self. He knew his parents would be there. And his sister would probably be there too.

But he wasn't sure about Sam and Tucker. Or even if Shara would like to go. All the excitment might put too much of a strain on her.

Still... He had planned on asking her to be his date. Out of courtesy. And if she said no, well, he'd simply have to split himself into two so that one could lavish her with affection while the other would dress up in a tux and entertain the city fat cats against his will.

The only good thing about the whole mess was that he was fairly sure that she would say _'no'_ to his invitation and wouldn't be exposed to his ghost side. "Are you thinking about that big charity thing that's going to happen in a week or so?" Jazz asked. Danny looked at his sister and flushed a bit.

"_No. Yes_. Maybe..."

"Are you planning on asking Shara to go with you?" Sam asked in a catty tone that Danny recognised as her 'plotting' tone. He gave her a pleasant smile as he imagined Shara walking into the large building across town, on his arm, dressed in one of the most beautiful dresses his mom and sister could help her find.

God he would _love _to have her there with him. To know what he did for a living.

Truly he would.

But he just wasn't ready to be that vulnerable to having his heart ripped out. Especially since this time he was almost certain that it would kill him. He kissed his mom and sister bye. Then hugged his dad and his friends and waved to them as they climbed into the land rover his dad had driven for the past twenty odd years.

And waited until he saw them disappear from his driveway before going back inside and silently making his way to the guest room and frowned when he peered into the room and found it empty.

"Shara?" He called out in a low tone as he pushed the door open to get a better look around and heard a faint thudding sound coming from further down the hall. Where his room was. Frowning he turned and quickly made his way to his room and opened the door to find Shara sitting on the floor next to his bed, shaking violently.

"Shara? Sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked as he quickly slipped into the room and dropped down to his knees next to her and lightly grasped her shoulders and pulled her back against him when he noticed that she was clutching her chest and breathing heavily.

_Oh no! Her heart!_


	16. Chapter 16

Yo! I'm back kittens. How have you been?

I know that it's been a while but that in no way means that I've quite any of my fics. Some of the older ones are just harder for me to pick up than others. Luckily for you, I have a system.

However people and things are conspiring to keep me down. Today my dad was admitted to the hospital with heart problems. The doctors are talking about doing surgery on him but they can't do it where he's at now. He needs to see a specialist.

Now that I'm done telling you all the news that is news, without further ado- here's another chapter of Spirited Away.

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Danny grabbed Shara by the shoulders, fully intending to haul her to her feet and drag her out to his car and drive her to the nearest hospital when she patted one of his hands, her breathing easing slowly into a more normal rhythm as her body gradually stopped it's shaking and she looked up at him and gave him a wane smile.

"Sorry. That happens sometimes." She said in a soft breathless tone as she leaned into him, suddenly feeling more tired than she had in the past few days.

Danny didn't say anything. He merely drew back a bit and slipped an arm around her shoulders and his other under her legs and stood up, picking her up off of the floor and setting her on his bed before finally asking, "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"No. I just need to take my pills and rest a bit." Shara said as she lifted one arm and rubbed her finger tips above her left eye before dropping it back to her side with a tired sigh.

Danny was eerily still as he thought of what she had just said and while he wanted her to at least go to the hospital and get checked out, she knew more about her body and it's needs than he did. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't call some paramedics to come and look her over as soon as she dozed off. "Where are you're pills?"

"In my car. In the glove box, there's a big bottle-" She demonstrated with her fingers how big the bottle was. "My pills are in there." Danny nodded to her and then stepped out into the hallway and moved to the kitchen where he paused only long enough to split himself into two.

_Just in case she needs something._ Danny told himself as his copy moved out of the kitchen doorway while Danny turned and continued his trek outside to get her pills. He didn't bother with opening the truck, choosing instead to save a bit of time and simply phased through it and dug around the glove box until his hand came into contact with something as thick and round as his wrist.

_Ah ha! Found em. _He thought as he phased the bottle out of the glove box and out of the car and turned it over in his hand to read the label and made a soft humming sound then pocketed the bottle. And then quickly made his way back inside and was nearly bowled over when he suddenly felt a strong seething _rage_ from his other half.

It was so strong that for a moment it was hard for Danny to breathe. All he felt was the urge to rip something or someone apart. Suddenly worried he sent a mental call for his clone to meet him in the kitchen and continued on.

The second he walked into the kitchen his clone was there, trying hard not to show how angry he was as he got a glass out of a cabinet and then move to the fridge and grabbed a jug of grape juice as Danny asked, "What happened?"

His clone turned to look at him with a royally pissed look on his face. His eyes glowing that peculiar green that his other self, Danny Phantom, was so famous for. "She saw something outside of your bedroom window. That's what caused her fit."

Danny visibly tensed and made a low angry growling sound as his clone poured the juice into the cup then put it away.

So that's why he had found her in the state she'd been in. _Someone_ or _something_ had scared her. "Did she say what she saw?" Danny asked his clone as it put the juice away and nodded.

"She said that she saw a glowing blue creature, staring into you're bedroom window at her."

Danny narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment as he pulled Shara's pill bottle out fo his pocket and tossed it to his clone. His clone caught it and gave him a slightly questioning look as he said, "Stay with her while I go check out the usual suspects."

The clone blinked at him. "You're going to the ghost zone?"

"Yeah, and while I'm there I'm going to kick the ass of whoever thought it would be fun to swing by and terrorize Shara." The clone nodded his head and said,

"I'll be curled up on the bed with her just in case she has another episode."

"Alright. Just remember to have 9-1-1 on speed dial." Danny said as he shifted. Letting his ghost powers take over. It started with a small tingle that danced along every inch of his skin, then his temp dropped, and his hair bristled and changed to white as his eyes flashed to green. Once the change was complete he looked at his clone through his otherworldly eyes and said, "Give her a kiss for me since I'll likely be back late in the morning."

Danny's clone gave him a small salute and a wry smile. "I will." He promised as Danny faded and disappeared from sight.


	17. Chapter 17

The flight over to his parents home where the portal to the ghost zone was didn't take Danny long since he was in a hurry to unleash his temper on someone for what had happened to Shara.

In fact the mere thought of one of his old enemies peeking through his windows, and scaring her to the point where she could have had a heart attack, had him so pissed that his blood was damn near boiling as he landed lightly on the steps outside of his parents home.

And lightly knocked on their door knowing that they were still wide awake and probably tinkering with some of their stuff somewhere inside.

He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting as patiently as he could...all things considered, and after no reply after a good five minutes- he started to get antsy and lifted his hand to bang on their door really loud, just in case they were in the basement or something when the door swung open and his mom appeared in the doorway in her PJ's, looking concerned as she stared at him.

"Danny?"

He sighed and dropped his hand and gave her a small, apologetic smile as he quickly stepped inside and said. "Hi mom. I'm sorry to drop by without warning, like this-" _Especially after I had more or less_ _rudely thrown her and the rest of the family out of my house, earlier. _"But something happened earlier that may be ghost related and Shara almost had a heart attack on me." Danny said as his dad came walking down the steps to see where his wife had gone and noticed his son standing in the doorway in his ghost form, looking more upset than he had ever seen him before.

Maddie made a low growling sound and closed the door behind her son before asking, "Is she alright, hon?"

"She's taken some medicine and is currently resting with one of my clones watching over her. But I was wondering if I could ask two favors..." Danny said as his dad walked up behind his mother and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You know that you can ask us anything Danny-" Jack said solemly.

Danny gave his dad a worried look, thinking that asking them do sit outside of his house for a while might be dangerous since he still didn't know what he was up against. But he couldn't_ not_ ask.

Not when he had devided his power between himself and his clone, and knew that it could only protect Shara so much. Still he didn't like the idea of dragging his parents into a possible fight with the unknown. The last thing he wanted was for one or both of them to end up hurt or worse.

But again, he couldn't not ask. Not when the situation was a bit on the delicate side. "I know but... I just want to warn you ahead of time that I'm unsure of what I'm up against..."

"That's alright. We pretty much have stuff for every situation, son. So tell us what you need."

"I need you to head back over to the house and stake it out for ghost activity. You should also take the Phenton long range communicater with you since I'll have one on me. If you see anything, I'll need you to tell me. In the mean time I'll have to go into the ghost zone and look around." Danny said.

His parents exchanged a look then nodded before his mom asked, "Should we check up on Shara while we're at it?"

Danny gave his parents a small wry smile and shook his head slowly. "No. My clone can take care of her for now. But if anything happens to it, I'll need you both to grab her and take her to the nearest hospital just in case."

"Understood, son." Jack said as he and Maddie turned and ran up the steps to the second floor to get dressed and grab some of their gear, leaving Danny on his own to head down to the basement where the portal was.


	18. Chapter 18

The second Danny left the house, his clone did a short walk through. Checking the windows and doors before he heard the roar of a familiar engine as a vehicle parked on the curb. _Hn. The parents- _Of course Danny would have gone to them after what had happened with Shara. He had been frightened that she would die, after all.

And she could of. As it stood right now, Danny's clone wasn't entirely sure that Shara shouldn't be in a hospital right that moment so maybe having Danny's parents hanging around wouldn't be a bad thing. They both had some medical knowledge, and knew CPR.

So...

Sighing he moved to the front door and opened it just as both Maddie and Jack were about to knock. Both of Danny's parents looked at him for a moment and he found himself smirking at them in amusement.

They never had known how to react around clones of their son.

Maddie, however was the first to recover from the shock of seeing him standing there and stammered out, "Uh, D-Danny sent us over to keep an eye on things." He stood back so that he could let them in and heard a strange sound- almost like a thud- coming from the bedroom.

He looked back at Danny's parents and noticed that the two were suddenly armed and he quickly flashed to ghost form and disappeared down the hall to the bedroom where he found Shara sitting partially upright against Danny's dresser looking dazed. Quickly flashing back to normal, he moved over to where she was and started to scoop her up- wondering what she was doing out of bed- when she muttered, "I gotta go to the bathroom."

He blinked once, his mind trying to process what she had just said when Danny's mother peeked into the bedroom wearing her jumpsuit and goggles. "Is everything okay in here sweetie? Is Shara okay?"

"She's okay mom. I think she just fell while trying to get to the bathroom."

"Oh," Maddie said as she put her ghost hunting weapon away and moved into the room and put her hand on his shoulder. "Tell you what, hon- I'll take care of this for you. You go find your dad and stop him from doing something weird before the neighbors see him."

He made a humming sound and looked down at Shara as if he were worried to leave her in Maddie's hands as Shara looked at him and frowned then said aloud, "Your not Danny. Where's Danny?"

He and Maddie gave her an slightly alarmed look before Maddie smiled and said, "What are you talking about, hon? Of course this is Danny." Shara shook her head and stared hard at him, her gaze slightly unfocused.

"No, that isn't my Danny. He's someone else." He opened his mouth to deny what she was saying, or at the very least think up a decent lie to tell her when Maddie slipped an arm around Shara's shoulders and said in a hushed tone.

"No, hon. That's Danny. Your meds must be messing with you."

"Oh. Well, that would explain why I feel so dizzy."

"That's right now lets get you into the bathroom so you can do your business-" Then turned to the clone and said, "Get lost kiddo. It's girl time." Putting his hands up in surrender, he stood up and moved back and left the room to go do as Maddie had bid him to do earlier.

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The ghost zone had changed very little since Danny had been a teen. There were still swirling vortex's of green ecto energy. There were still masses of ghostly objects floating around. And of course there was his teenage enemies.

Amber, the phycho muscian.

Stoker- the hunter of rare animals.

Techno, well his name pretty much spoke for itself. Techno geek.

Jhonny thirteen and his girlfriend Kiddy.

Ya know the more he thought of how many enemies he had, the more upset he became. He had no idea where to start looking for the one who had gone by his home and scared Shara. Hell, he didn't even know if the ghostly being was hostile or merely looking for help with something. All he knew was that he had a list nearly twice as long as his arm, and no idea where to begin.


	19. Chapter 19

_Former rant about animal abuse- I had to come back and fix this. Sorry it took so long._

Okay, on to the story...

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Danny had felt it best to start with the most vile and evil of ghosts in the ghost zone since they would be the most likely to drop by his home unannounced in an effort to take him by surprise. Because when it really came down to it- they were nothing more than cowards. Cowards that could knock him through a wall and creep him out, yeah, but cowards never the less.

So he started with the Fright Knight. Which had perhaps been a better idea than he had initially thought since he got to work out some of his anger and frustrations by beating him to a pulp before gaining any answers or clues.

According to the Fright Knight none of his usual enemies had bothered to try and catch him unawares in years. None of them had even bothered to go through the portal linking the ghost zone and the living world together. After all, if they did what was it that always happened? They got their plans foiled, their butts kicked and a one way ticket back to the zone.

And frankly many of them had decided that despite their hatred of him, the beatings to both their essence and their ego's simply wasn't worth it. Which left a slew of whole new problems for Danny.

If his usual enemies weren't coming out to play- then who the hell had he been fighting for the past few years? Upon posing this question to the Fright Knight, said ghost burst out laughing in a creepy kind of way that would have made the halfa's skin crawl if he had been in human form before replying, "Humans die everyday Daniel. And so many more become restless, earthbound and angry spirits- Any of them could have sensed you're power and come looking for you."

Danny narrowed his eyes at the Fright Knight and growled as he mentally calculated the possibilities.

_Damn._ He was right. He hated that the evil knight was right, but he was. Millions upon millions of people died everyday. The unborn, the young, the old, the sickly, the people who died horrible and inhumanly violent deaths... There was no end to the well of souls that could have found their way to Amity Park and tracked him down. Which meant that he wouldn't necessarily find any clues here in the ghost zone.

And that meant that he needed to return back to the world of the living before something else happened.

Tossing the Fright Knight aside, he thanked him in an icy tone as he reached out with his mind and checked on things back home via the connection he shared with his other self. He felt his other self give him a step for step rundown of what had happened so far then pointed out that Shara seemed to instinctively know that he wasn't the real Danny, giving his alter ego pause as he sorted through the information.

That...wasn't supposed to happen. In fact to his knowledge it had never happened before now. Which was really saying something since Shara shouldn't have been able to tell the difference between him and his other self. But he'd worry about the meaning of that particular problem once he was back home and close to Shara again.

It took Danny an hour or more to navigate himself through some of the harsher territories of the ghost zone before reaching the portal and slipping through and closing it behind him just in case he had been followed, then phased through the floors and ceilings of his childhood home and taking to the air at a breakneck speed. Completely unaware that he was being watched by something hovering a distance away from his location so as not to set off his ghostly senses.

They didn't want him to know he was being watched until it was too late and they had what they had come for.

Shara... The girl who had altered fate and resurrected herself after dying. The power to alter fate had long been believed to be lost to his world, but if he could manage to get the girl away from the halfa protecting her... then he and his minions might be able to return to the world of the living too.


	20. Chapter 20

When Danny returned home, he made sure to keep himself invisible though his parents had long learned how to spot him when he was on the move- And was surprised to find the scene before him.

There in his living room was his mom, curled up on one of his chairs, checking out one of the books that she had no doubt stolen from one of his bookcases. His father was standing in front of the nearest window, with his arms crossed over his wide chest and an dark look on his face that Danny had long ago dubbed the '_you-fuck-with-me-and-I'll-rip-out-your-heart'_ look, his eyes scanning the inky darkness surrounding Danny's home for any trouble.

And on the couch just a few feet from his mom, was his double, sitting with his back straight, with one arm draped across the back of his chair and resting in his lap... Was Shara's head because the rest of her was curled up under a small blanket that had been dug out of the closet down the hall from the living room, sound asleep.

The air in the room became cooler due to his ghostly presence and before either of his parents could whip out one of their many, many, many ghost zapping/neutralizing toys- he made sure to go by the window where his father was and ice it up real good and write.

**_I'm back. Found nothing. Will continue to investigate._ **

To which his dad replied softly in an almost whispered tone, "Alright son. Go ahead and fuse back with your clone..." Then stretched his arms up over his head in an effort to unknot the muscles in his shoulders and back as he said, "Mattie. Heads up." As Danny re fused with his clone and blinked his glowing green eyes until they turned neon blue again as his mother set the book she'd been engrossed in aside and leaned forward with her elbows braced on her knees and her fingers laced together and asked anxiously,

"Well? What did you find?"

"Nothing. I went to one of the best sources for trouble that I have and he couldn't tell me anything aside from something about a Well of Souls."

"Well of Souls?" Jack Phenton echoed as he made his way past his son and over to his wife and gently set his hand on her shoulder as she frowned.

"Yeah. Near as I can tell from the way he spoke of it. It's where all newly dead souls are collected. However some of them are Earthbound and simply too powerful to move. So they stay where they are until they feel the presence of another strong soul and then they try to seek it out. The reasons for that are still unknown to me. I knocked him around pretty good but I'm not totally sure if what he told me about the Well or the Earthbound souls is completely true." Danny said as he took a moment to glance down at Shara and dropped his arm from the back of the chair and gently slid his fingers through her silken hair in an almost petting motion as his parents shifted through the information he'd just given them.

"Danny, if what you're informant told you has any grain of truth..." Mattie said in a concerned tone. Drawing Danny's eyes from Shara's sleeping face just long enough to narrow his eyes and nod his head in silent confirmation of his mother's silent fear.

He had come to the same conclusion himself while he had been on his way home from the ghost zone. As long as other ghosts could sense him, Shara was in danger of being attacked. Or worse. Having another fit like tonight that could possibly lead to a trip to the hospital or morgue. Both of which were unacceptable to him.

But as long as she was in a relationship with him, that was the risk she ran.

"Maybe I should let her go." He said more to himself than anyone else. But his mom, being the sharp person that she was, heard his words and gave him one of her famous _'do-it-and-I'll-annihilate-you'. _

"Okay, okay," Danny said as he put his hands up in a placating gesture as he gave his mother a helpless look. "I won't let her go."

"You're damn right you won't," Jack said in a growling tone as he motioned to Shara with his head before going on. "Whoever or whatever was here has already figured out that she's somehow attached to you. She's a target now regardless of whether you break your relationship off with her or not. The best thing to do now son, is to keep her close and do your best to make sure that there isn't a repeat of tonight's events. Understand?"

"Yeah. Okay." _When did dad get so sharp? _Danny wondered before his mother chimmed in.

"Yeah. Besides, you can't just dump the woman who'll give us grandkids."

"Yeah I get it- Wait. _What!" _Danny practically shouted, accidentally startling Shara awake in the process and causing her to tumble off of the couch and hit the floor with a yelp.


	21. Chapter 21

"Shara!" Danny shouted in alarm as he jumped to his feet and quickly dove for her while his mother sat back and observed her husband quickly moving around her chair and diving to catch the young woman as well- and winched in sympathy as both her poor husband and poor son's skulls collided causing both to yelp and swear as they fell to the floor on either side of an somewhat wary looking Shara.

"Shara, you okay hon?" Mattie asked as both Danny and Jack groaned and pushed themselves upright while rubbing the spots on their heads where they had hurt themselves. Shara lifted her head slightly up off of the floor, her eyes still frightfully wide as she croaked out,

"Am I still alive?"

"Of course you are sweetheart, though you might be a bit concussed after taking a fall like that," Danny said in a dry tone as he reached out and placed a palm against the side of her face and ran his thumb along the curve of her cheek before saying gently, coaxingly, "Maybe you should spend the night here with me tonight." At which point Shara looked away from his mother's amused expression so that she could look up at Danny. A small frown working it's way between her eyes.

"You didn't find the person I saw, did you?" She asked in a small voice that made Danny's heart constrict in his chest.

He wanted to lie to her, really he did, he wanted to tell her that he'd found the person that had been outside of his home earlier. He wanted to tell her that it was okay, that she had nothing to fear or worry about- But he knew that if she found out he'd lied to her, even to spare her from feeling worried or afraid, she'd never forgive him. So he sighed and looked away helplessly for a moment before replying, "No... No I didn't find him. I'm sorry."

She nodded her head in acceptance and jumped as his dad slowly got to his feet. Apparently she had forgotten that his father was on the floor beside her. "Oh. Alright..." She said numbly as his hand moved from her cheek to one of her hands, his fingers slipping around her own easily so that he could help her up off of the floor as he suggested,

"If you don't want to use the guest room then you might feel safer in my room with me." And instantly almost took the words back when he saw the look of barely concealed glee on his mother's face. _Oh shit._ One look at that expression and Shara would run far, far,_ far_ away from him and probably never return. Hell, even he wanted to run away from him when his mother got that look on her face.

However it seemed was his lucky day since she appeared to miss the look entirely as she seemed so focused on him.

Which suited him just fine since it wasn't everyday that he asked someone to share his bed. Even if he would have to keep his hands to himself for a while longer. At least until he knew what her doctors said at her next checkup. Once he was sure her heart wouldn't give out, then he'd put his hands on her as much as she allowed him too and then some.

He pulled her up as he got to his feet, subtly using his ghostly abilities to help him do so without her notice. His parents on the other hand- sadly they lacked Shara's tunnel vision and noticed that he was using his powers for such a small task and once he had Shara on her feet- his dad practically wrestled his girlfriend from him under the guise of needing help to the kitchen.

And once they were gone, Danny found himself left with his mother. Wishing he was presently somewhere else instead of the living room with_ her _as his mother sat forward in her seat again and demanded in a none too friendly tone, "What was that?"

"What was what?" Danny asked, deciding it may be in his best interest to feign innocence since he might live longer if he did. Unfortunately his mother must have realized that he was playing dumb... Why else would she pick up the book that she'd been reading and chuck it at his head? Thinking quickly, he changed to his phantom counterpart and gave his mother an indignant sigh as his book collided with the wall behind him and then fell to the floor.

"Wow that brought back a few childhood trauma's." Danny said as he took his eyes off of his mom for a second to see where the book landed. If Shara had heard the noise it made in the kitchen then he'd have to come up with a story as to why the book was across the room.

"I'll give you more than trauma, Daniel Fenton! Just what the hell were you doing using your power-" Danny held his hands out, palm up and made a 'shhhing' noise at her then glanced uneasily in the direction of the door that led to the small hallway that came out into the kitchen.

"Mom, keep you're voice down. I don't want Shara to hear you when your in a snit..." Danny said almost nervously and nearly tripped over the couch when his mom decided to get up in his face, forcing him to try and retreat to a much safer distance.

"A snit- A snit! Boy you haven't seen me in a snit since you were in diapers!" _Not true, _Danny thought as some of his most hellish childhood memories slithered through his mind like a snake. _If not for the fact that I could turn into a ghost at fourteen, I'd still be in therapy right now. _Danny thought as he said,

"You're way too close right now. Could you please back up some."

"No." Mattie gritted out from between clenched teeth as Danny tried his hardest to climb over the back of the couch wile keeping an eye on her and not tipping the piece of furniture over on top of himself- thus hindering his escape even more. Plus, climbing without seeing what you were doing was kind of a pain. As Danny found out when he accidentally knocked over and broke one of his lamps then got tangled in the cord and wound up with the couch falling on top of him all while his mother stood there glaring down at him with her arms crossed.


End file.
